Method of preparing a stencil.



' A. B. DICK.

METHOD oF PREP/RING A sTENcxL. APPLlCATION FILED OCT. 1B. |913.

Patented July 20, 1915.

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ALBERT B. DICK, OF LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR TO A. B. DICK COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

METHOD 0F PBEPARING A STENCIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, i915.

Application filed October 18, 1913. Serial No. 795,843.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. DICK, a citizen of the v`United States, residing at Lake Forest, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Preparing a Stencil', of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to the art of stencil-duplicating and particularly to the art of preparing a stencil for use upon a duplicating machine in making multiple copies.

The invention is directed to the provision of a novel method of preparing a stencil by which the process of stencil-duplicating is adapted for a class of work which has heretofore been done by other methods.

The invention involves the cutting of a stencil to adapt it for use in duplicating partly by an impression received from an electrotype or similar printing member and partly by impressions received from the type of a typewriter in the usual manner.

iIn many classes of work, particularly railway and shipping work, it has been common to prepare multiple copies of various printed forms and to iill in the blanks on these forms with a typewriter. The work of filling in these blanks has "always been a laborious one, and in many instances where the same matter has to be filled in in many copies oi the same form, eiiort has been made to employ other methods than the use of a typewriter in the ordinary manner. It has been proposed to ll in these forms with a stencil-duplicator, but this has heretofore been impractical for the reason that proper registration of the new matter with the ymatter of the printed form has not been obtainable. The lines of the printing constituting these forms are usually comparatively close together so that much of an error inv registration might be quite serious in that it might be great enough to result in matter applying to one line of printing being placed opposite another.

Although stencil-duplicating machines have heretofore been made with a special view to obtaining accurate registration, these machines have not been susceptible of use in lling in these printed forms where accuracy of registration is important. In many instances, this is due to the fact that these forms are printed in very large quantities and to accomplish the work of printing them expeditiously, it is common to print from four to sixteen copies on a single large sheet and suitably cutthe sheets thereafter. As a result of this method of procedure, the margin around the printed matter is different on the different sheets. Accuracy in the width of the margin of printed forms made by this method of procedure seems to be impossible of attainment. As a result, an attempt to print upon such forms with a stencil-duplicator in the ordinary manner would show' results which are very bad in the matter of registration.

In order to permit of employing the art of stencil-duplicating in preparing matter of the character above referred to and thus decrease the amount of labor and time consumed in the production of such matter, I have devised a novel method of procedure in the preparation of a stencil for use in stencil-duplicating. In accordance with this method, a stencil is cut partly by the application thereto of a printing member such as an electrotype and partly by a typewriter. This stencil is then used for printing in the ordinary manner upon blank sheets.

Thus, so far as registration is concerned, it is only necessary for the operator of the kprinting machine but once instead of once for printing the form upon rthe sheets and again for printing the matter to be inserted in the form.

In accordance with the invention, an electrotype or other printing member is prepare just as it has been heretofore for the purpose of printing the form-matter upon the sheets. Instead of `using this electrotype for printing however, it is used for partially cutting the stencil. The electrotype is placed in a suitable press, the stencilsheet is applied to its face and then pressure is brought to bear so as to press the stencil against the electrotype with such force as is necessary' to cut the stencil along the lines of the raised portions of the electrotype.I The stencil is then withdrawn from the press and inserted in the typewriting machine where the remainder of the 110 l IOO jso

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ranged for printing form-matter.

characters to beprinted are cut in the stencil by operation of the typewriting machine in the usual manner, care being observed to secure eXact registration of these characters with the matter previously cut in the stencil with the electrotype. The stencil is then completely cut and may be applied to the drum of a stenciLduplicating machine for use in printing multiple copies from the stencil in the usual manner.

I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings the several steps of my improved process and also I have shown diagrammatically apparatus which may be employed in practising the process.

In these drawings, Figure 1 shows a stencil-sheet, Fig. 2 shows an electrotype for printing form-matter, Fig. 3 shows a partially cut stencil-sheet, Fig. 4 shows a completely cut stencil-sheet, Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a press for cutting a stencil and F ig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a typewriting machine for use in cutting a stencil.

Referring to these drawings, Fig. l shows the blank stencil-sheet with which the operator starts in practising the improved process and Fig. 2 shows the electrotype ar- Such an electrotype may be arranged for printing partially completed lines of words which are to be completed thereafter and lines of words with rectangles following them into which rectangles printed matter is to be subsequently inserted. The rst step inI the process of cutting the stencil is to apply the stencil to the face of the electrotype and press it upon the electrotype so that the stencil will be cut along the 'lines of the raised portions of the electrotype. Whenl this has been done, the stencil is partially prepared and is then in the condition indicated by Fig. 3 which shows the stencil-sheet after the operation of cutting it with the electrotype has been concluded. When this has been done, the operator places the partially cut sheet in a typewriter and cuts the balance of the stencil by operation of the typewriter in the usualmanner, making the typewritten matter register exactly with the matter cutby the electrotype. When this has been done, the stencil is completely cut and ready for use in a stencil-duplicating machine, its condition then being that indicated by Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 shows diagrammatically apparatus which may be employed in effecting the cutting of the stencil with the electrotype. The electrotype is shown at 7 mounted upon a spring-supported bed 8, any form of springs 9 being arranged to support this bed yield-y ingly. rI`he stencil-sheet is shown at 10 superimposed upon the electrotype 7. A platen or pressure-roller 11 is arranged for movement over the stencil-sheet 10 to press the matter down upon the electrotype 7 with the requisite pressure. The ends of the shaft of roller ll pass under pressure-bars l2 whose position may be adjusted vertically as is necessary. I have found that a substantial degree of pressure is necessary in order to make an electrotype of the character which would be used in practising the process of this invention suitably cut a stencil. Particularly is ,this true when the stencil-sheet is of the character now eXtensively employed having the coating thereof consisting of a coagulated protein. For this reason, it is highly desirable that the pressure be applied to the stencil-sheet and electrotype by a rolling motion. In this way, the sheet is pressed against but a portion of the surface of the electrotype at a time as a result of which the pressure necessary for cutting the stencil may be obtained more rapidly and with less effort. For this reason, the platen or pressure-member is here shown in the form of a cylinder or roller l1 which is adapted to be rolled over the surface of the electrotype after the stencil-sheet has been applied to that surface in order to eect the cutting of the stencil with the electrotype.

In Fig. 6, a typewriting machine is shown diagrammatically for completing the cutting of the stencil after the latter has been partially cut by application to the electrotype 7. The sheet is shown at l0 passing around. the platen 13 of the typewriting machine 14 in position to be struck by the typelevers l5 of the typewriting machine to cut the desired letters in the stencil in the blanks provided for their reception by the partial cutting of the stencil with the electrotype.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by LettersfPatent of the United States is:

l. The method of preparing a' stencil, which consists in pressing the stencil-sheet into contact with a printing member of eX- tended area such as a form of type or an electroplate, and then cutting additional characters individually in the stencil-sheet within the limits of the impression received by the sheet from such printing member, as by placing the sheet in a typewriting machine and operating the machine so that the type-levers thereof strike the stencil-sheet, substantially as set forth.

2. The method of preparing a stencil, which consists in placing the stencil-sheet in Contact with a printing member of eX- tended area such as a form of type or an electroplate, then pressing the sheet against the printing member by a rolling motion so as to cutL the stencil along the raised portions of the printing member,and then cutting additional characters individually in the sheet within the limits of the impression received by the sheet from said printing riflessa member, as by placing the partially cut stenlo characters individually in the stencil sheet,

as by placing the sheet in a typewriting machine and operating the machine so that the type levers thereofstrike the stencil sheet, substantially as set forth. This specification signed and witnessed 15 this 14th day of October, 1913.

. ALBERT B. DICK. Witnesses:

W. A. WATERBURY, W. G. ARNOLD. 

